Masking private billing data by assigning other billing data to use in commerce with businesses

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for shielding a user&#39;s private billing data, such as credit card information, or other billing arrangements, but distributing different billing data to businesses during commerce therewith. Also disclosed is assigning the different billing data through real-time and advance distribution of the different billing data to a user, as well. Also disclosed is validating the correctness of a charge through confirmation of the charge with a financial institution, such as a bank, and by comparing itemized charges against expected charges identified by the user.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to the field of information systems. Morespecifically, the present invention relates to electronic purchaseswhile maintaining privacy of customer billing data.

2. Background Information

The Internet is a well-known collection of public and private datacommunication and multimedia networks that operate using commonprotocols to form a world wide network of networks. Recently there hasbeen an explosion in the availability of “virtual storefronts,” e.g.,commerce sites, reachable over the Internet. This rapid growth is due,in part, to the availability of fast, reliable and affordable computingdevice systems, and the general simplification of networking hardwareand configuration. Thus, consumers and businesses alike now have accessto hardware that makes effective online commerce commerciallypracticable.

To conduct online transactions, a business typically sets up a home page(e.g., “web site”) on the World Wide Web, which is a logical overlay ofthe Internet. Web sites are simply machines located someplace within theInternet, with traditional naming conventions for the machines, e.g.,named WWW, and holding themselves available to interact using standardprotocols such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and programminglanguages or environments such as Hypertext Transfer Protocol HTML, XML,Java, JavaScript, Java Beans, ActiveX, Visual Basic, or the like.

To make a purchase via a web site, a customer executes a “browser,” suchas the Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, or other network awareapplication program that is configured to communicate with a business'web site. The customer locates a particular product, and proceeds to a“check out” web page (or equivalent) to process a purchase transaction.At this point, the customer must enter credit card data and other datasufficient to identify the customer and allow purchase of goods tooccur.

Historically, thieves have attempted to monitor such online transactionsso as to steal consumer data to allow engaging in subsequent fraudulenttransactions. Such monitoring is possible due to the inherently insecurenature of the Internet communication protocol. Internet communicationfollows the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP),where data is broken into small packets that are individually sent to arecipient, received by the recipient and then re-assembled into theoriginal data.

Unfortunately, anyone with access to a network has the ability to“snoop” network traffic on that network. Thus, anyone capable ofmonitoring some portion of the communication path between the customerand business is then able to monitor the purchase transaction. Toovercome this security problem, various protocols, e.g., IP Security(IPSEC), Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), Secure HTTP (S-HTTP) have emergedto allow a business and a customer to securely communicate.

Although the data packets can still be snooped, their contents are nowencrypted and unusable. Thus, thieves have recently begun to attack, or“hack,” the online commerce sites so as to steal consumer data storedwithin databases maintained by the business. Since private consumerdata, such as credit card information, once received by a business, isreassembled and decrypted by the business, the data is available fortheft.

Thus, what is needed is an environment which provides consumers with theability to engage in online transactions in a more secure manner.

SUMMARY

Apparatuses and methods registering a user with multiple businesses,where each business is given billing data, such as credit card data,that is unique to that business. Apparatuses, such as computing devices,and consumer electronic devices such as a telephone, communicate with abilling service so that billing data can be generated for particularbusinesses and used in commercial transactions with the business. Suchcommunication and generation may be in advance of a purchase, orgenerated in real-time during a purchase.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a client in communication with a network.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart according to one embodiment of the invention,illustrating a client registering with a business for purchasing a good.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart according to one embodiment of the invention, inwhich a client purchases a good using billing data provided in advanceby a billing service.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart according to one embodiment of the invention, inwhich a client purchases a good using billing data provided in real-timeby a billing service.

FIG. 5 illustrates one embodiment of a suitable computing environment inwhich certain aspects of the illustrated invention may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In various embodiments of the invention, a customer is able to establishaccounts with web sites without revealing private billing informationsuch as credit card numbers, advance debit arrangements, invoicearrangements, etc. to a web site/business from whom the customerpurchases goods.

FIG. 1 illustrates a client 100 in communication with a network 104.Also attached to the network are multiple servers 102 (business websites), such as those provided by e-commerce sites, online retailers, orother businesses seeking to engage in commerce with by way of networkedcustomers.

It is assumed the client comprises a computing device, such as apersonal computer, which operates on behalf of a user (the purchaser ofthe good). In alternate embodiments, the client may be incorporated intoan electronic card, a telephone (FIG. 6), a personal digital assistant(PDA), a portable audio device, a portable audiovisual device, acellular telephone, a key-chain dongle, or within an automobile or othertransportation device.

It is further assumed that each of the network locations to which aclient may communicate provide a “web site” for engaging in commercialtransactions, and will collectively be referred to as “businesses.” Forthe purposes of this description, the phrase “web site” is intended tobe a general reference to a network “presence” maintained by a businessas well a logical presence maintained on behalf of a business.

The clients 100 and businesses 102 are in communication, through thenetwork 104, with a billing service 106. The billing service isconfigured to allow clients 100 to reduce the risk of disclosing billingdata, such as personal credit card numbers, debit card numbers, bankaccount numbers, and the like, to businesses 102. In one embodiment, thebilling service facilitates commercial transactions by generatingsubstitute billing data that the client 100 can use when engaging incommercial transactions with businesses 102. The phrase “substitutebilling data” refers to valid billing data that is owned and/orcontrolled by the billing service 106, where billing data is temporarilyor permanently distributed to clients 100 to replace personal and/orprivate billing data of the client.

Also in communication with the client 100 and businesses 102 by way ofthe network 104, is an encryption server 108. The encryption server canbe used to provide encryption keys to a client 100 and business 102 toallow them to engage in secure communications. In one embodiment, theencryption server 108 is used to engage in conventional public keyencryption systems, where the encryption server provides directoryassistance services, allowing clients 100 and businesses 102 to retrievepublic encryption keys.

In one embodiment, public key encryption services are used in additionto encryption services already available to a client (e.g., such asthose available within a web browser or other communication program usedby the client 100). In an alternate embodiment, already availableencryption services, such as those provided by a web browser, are usedto securely communicate with the encryption server 108 to obtainencryption keys for opening a secure communication channel between theclient 100 and business 102.

This allows weaker security afforded by the client communicationenvironment, e.g., a 40 bit or other short key system, to be used tocommunicate with the encryption server 108 to obtain more secure (e.g.,longer) encryption keys. In this alternate embodiment, the built insecurity can also be used to transfer non-public key based cryptosystemkeys, such as single use session keys, to the client 100 and business102 for engaging in commerce.

Associated with clients 100 are local storage, such as a database 110,that can store billing data and encryption data for use duringtransactions with a business 102. In one embodiment, records 112 withinthe database 110 are keyed on a business 102 identity reference. Abusiness identity can be tracked by way of business name, uniqueidentifier for the business (e.g., a tax ID or other assigned/selectedidentifier), uniform resource locator (URL), TCP/IP “dot quad” networkaddress (e.g., 10.1.2.3) used to access the business 102 over thenetwork 104, or a combination of these and/or other references.

As illustrated, the client local storage containing the database 110 isintegral to a client 100, such as within local mass storage device(s).However, it will be appreciated that the database may be containedwithin a separate computing device (not shown) associated with theclient 100, or maintained by or in conjunction with the billing service106 or encryption server 108. For example, the billing service 106 orencryption server 108 may be used to store backup copies of billingdata.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart according to one embodiment of the invention,illustrating a client 100 registering with a business 102 for purchasinga good (e.g., a physical or electronic item) from the business.

The first illustrated operation is the user initializing 200 thecomputing device. It is assumed that initialization includes all stepsrequired to boot, wake from an idle state, or otherwise start thecomputing device and configure it for purchasing activity. Assume thatthe computing device is a handheld (“palmtop”) personal computerexecuting the Microsoft Windows operating system. After initialization,the user loads 202 a communication program through which to engage inthe purchasing activity.

It will be appreciated that a number of environments may be used toimplement the communication program. For example, a dedicated/customapplication program may be designed to access businesses over a network.Alternatively, the communication program can be built usingcommunication features provided by Internet web browser products, suchas Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, or Opera.

In this latter environment, the communication program may be implementedin one of, or a combination of, Java, JavaScript, JavaBeans, ActiveX,Visual Basic, HTML, DHTML, or other Internet related programmingenvironments. It is assumed herein the communication program is based onan Internet browser, and that traditional Internet related communicationprotocols (e.g., TCP/IP, HTML, etc.) are used to communicate withbusinesses over the Internet. As discussed with respect to FIG. 1, eachbusiness provides a web address to which a client can connect to engagein purchase transactions.

After communication program initialization, the computing device is usedto register 204 the user with a first web site maintained by a firstbusiness. Note, however, that even though the illustrated embodimentrequires registration, it will be appreciated that in other embodiments,such registration need not occur first, or at all. To register, thecomputing device contacts 206 the first web site. In response the website sends an acknowledgement 208. Since an Internet browser is assumedin use, the contact is by way of directing the browser to an appropriatereceiving port monitored by a web server of the first business. It isassumed that port 80, the traditional Internet communication port, isused for communication. In the web browser context, acknowledgement canbe determined by receiving a “home page” or start page from the firstbusiness' web server.

If 210 no acknowledgement is received, then a registration error hasoccurred and processing of this registration halts 212; in oneembodiment, processing continues on (not shown) with registrationattempts with other businesses. If acknowledgement is received, then theclient 100 tells the business 102 it is interested in registering withthe business 102.

In one embodiment, the registration process is automated, where thebusiness web server is configured to receive a registration command fromthe client, and in response the business web server sends the clientregistration forms to complete. For example, in response to theregistration command, an HTML form (or equivalent structure) containingfields for the user's name, address, telephone number, and billing data,such as credit or debit card numbers, invoicing preferences, etc., issent 214 to the client. This form (or equivalent structure) is completed216 and returned 218 to the business. In response, the business 102processes the returned data and registers 220 the client with thebilling data returned 218 to the business web server.

Completion of the form can be automated, through automated parsing ofthe form to identify various fields to fill out. In one embodiment, theextensible markup language (XML) is used to encode forms with semanticmeaning to facilitate automatic interpreting and completing of a form.In an alternate embodiment, the user is allowed to review and complete aform with data known to the user, or the user can be provided with anopportunity to review and change a form completed by the computingdevice. In another embodiment, a special communication port, analogousto browser port 80, is used to send and receive registration data.

It will be appreciated that even though the above description assumesregistration of a user with businesses, such registration is notrequired in order to obtain billing data to present to such businesses.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart according to one embodiment of the invention, inwhich a client 100 purchases a good using billing data provided inadvance by a billing service 106. This figure concerns the logical dataflow for obtaining billing data used by a client 100 in purchasing agood from a business 102.

As discussed above, there are intrinsic security issues within networks,such as the Internet or home/office local area networks (LANs), whenmore than just the parties to a conversation may “snoop” data passing onthe network so as to discover secrets (e.g., credit card data or othersensitive data) disclosed during the conversation. In addition toattempts to securely encrypt the data transfers themselves, as will bediscussed below, client provided billing data can be customized so as toreduce risk of theft and/or fraudulent use.

A first operation is to contact 302 the billing service. In response,the billing service asks 304 for the business 102 with which thecustomer seeks to interact. As discussed above, a variety of differentinformation can be provided to identify the business. For simplicity, itis assumed that the business name is used to identify the business 102.The business name is provided 306 to the billing service 106. Inresponse the billing service generates 308 billing data that can be usedby the client in future transactions between the client and theidentified business. The correspondence between billing data andbusiness is tracked by the client 100 and/or it is tracked by thebilling service 106.

Once the billing data is known, the client 100 can then contact 310 abusiness and decide 312 on a good to purchase. In response to a purchasedecision, the business sends 314 a payment request to the client toarrange for receiving payment for the good. However, unbeknownst to thebusiness 102, in response to the payment request, instead of sendingpersonal credit card information, or other payment data, the client 100instead sends 316 the business the billing data created in advance bythe billing service for the business 102.

In one embodiment, the billing service obtains the billing data todistribute to clients by entering into agreements with bankinginstitutions (or equivalent). The billing service is provided a largenumber different billing data, e.g., credit card numbers, debit cardnumbers, etc., and the billing service may also set up internal invoiceaccounts and the like. These different billing data are provided to aclient 100 when the client registers with the billing service theclient's intent to purchase from a business 102.

In one embodiment, billing data presented to a client 100 is uniquelyassociated with the particular business 102 the client 100 intends topurchase from. Charges made against the billing data are received 318 bythe billing service in due course through standard financialinstitutions such as banks, savings and loans, investment houses, andthe like. These charges are verified 320 for validity.

In one embodiment, the client informs the billing service of the itemspurchased (or possibly just item categories) so that the billing servicemay audit a particular charge to ensure only expected purchases appearon the charge. In one embodiment, the client informs the billing serviceof billing data that is provided to businesses so as to facilitateverification. For example, the origin of a charge can be comparedagainst the business associated with the billing data.

In this embodiment, if 322 the charge origin fails to match the businessexpected to be making the charge, then the charge may be fraudulent.Consequently, the charge is contested 324 so as to allow the client toinvestigate the validity of the charge before being billed for thecharge. However, if 322 the expected business matches the charge origin,then the client is billed for the purchase amount paid by the billingservice. Note that the client may be billed in a manner entirelydifferent from the payment system required/used by the business 102.

For example, the client may have arranged to have purchasesautomatically deducted from a bank account, while the billing service106 is responsible for honoring a charge made by the business againstcredit card data provided by the client 100. Alternatively, the clientmay have arranged payment such that the billing service performs adirect wire transfer from a client's bank account directly into areceivables account of the business 102.

By associating a particular business with billing data, it is possibleto account for a thief stealing apparently valid billing data from abusiness' Internet web server, and then attempting to engage infraudulent activity. In addition to contesting 324 improper charges, thebilling service can be configured to retire billing data that has beencompromised.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart according to one embodiment of the invention, inwhich a client 100 purchases a good using billing data provided inreal-time by a billing service 106. It will be appreciated that eventhough FIGS. 3 and 4 are presented separately, a single client may useboth real-time generated billing data, and advance-obtained billingdata, depending on the business.

After contacting 400 a business 102 from which a purchase is to be made,the client 100 user decides 402 on the purchase; this decision istransmitted to the business. It will be appreciated that thisdecision-making process may include the user reviewing various offeringsof the business 102 (e.g., “surfing” the business web site), as well asdirectly connecting to a particular uniform resource location (URL) forpurchasing a product (a purchase link may be known in advance).

In response to the purchase decision, the business 102 sends 404 apayment request to the client. In response, analogous to that describedabove for FIG. 3, the client contacts 302 the billing service 106,provides 306 the business name to the service, and receives in real timebilling data generated 308 by the billing service for the business 102.In one embodiment, the billing data presented to the client 100 isuniquely associated with the particular business 102 the client 100 ispurchasing from.

As with FIG. 3, unbeknownst to the business 102, in response to thepayment request 404, instead of sending personal billing information ofthe user, the real time generated billing data is instead sent 406 tothe business.

Charges made against the billing data are received 408 by the billingservice. As with FIG. 3, these charges are verified 410 for validity. If412 the charges appear invalid/fraudulent, the charge may beautomatically contested 324 or other action taken, such as highlightingthe transaction to the user to allow review of the validity of thecharge.

If 412 the charge is valid, then the client is billed for the purchaseamount paid by the billing service. Note that the client may be billedin a manner entirely different from the payment system required/used bythe business 102. In one embodiment, highlighting occurs within the billsent to the user to accentuate invalid or possibly invalid charges.Highlighting can be by a variety of different methods, such as printingan offending charge in a bold typeface, in a larger type size, in adifferent font from the rest of the bill, in a different color, in adifferent section of a bill which organizes suspect charges in a singleregion, or through a combination of these or other highlightingtechniques.

In one embodiment, the billing service 106 tracks expiration dates forcharges made by the user. That is, if a charge is received against acredit card number provided to a client 100 for purchasing from abusiness 102, there may be a timeout period, such as 60 days, in which acharge must be contested if such charge is to be ever contested. In suchcircumstances, the highlighting may include prioritization of listedcharges according to expiration of contest periods. In anotherembodiment, a separate bill section is provided for contestable chargesexpiring within a certain amount of time, such as two weeks.

In one embodiment, the client can elect to be billed electronically, inaddition to or in lieu of receiving a physical bill printed on paper.Electronic billing can be by way of E-mailing or otherwiseelectronically transferring bill data to the client. Alternatively,bills can be maintained by the billing service 106, such as throughpersonalized web pages to which a client can log in and review charges.In one embodiment, the personalize web pages include buttons or othercontrols to allow disputing charges. In one embodiment, single-clickbuttons are provided with listed charges, where a single click of thebutton institutes a dispute process to cause the selected charge to bereviewed for fraud.

FIG. 5 and the following discussion are intended to provide a brief,general description of a suitable computing environment in which certainaspects of the illustrated invention may be implemented. The inventionmay be described by reference to different high-level program modulesand/or low-level hardware contexts. Those skilled in the art willrealize that program module references can be interchanged withlow-level hardware instructions.

Program modules include procedures, functions, programs, components,data structures, and the like, that perform particular tasks orimplement particular abstract data types. The modules may beincorporated into single and multi-processor computing systems, as wellas hand-held devices and controllable consumer devices (e.g., PersonalDigital Assistants (PDAs), cellular telephones, set-top boxes, Internetappliances, etc.). It is understood that modules may be implemented on asingle computing device, or processed over a distributed networkenvironment, where modules can be located in both local and remotememory storage devices.

An exemplary system for implementing the invention includes a computingdevice 502 having system bus 504 for coupling together variouscomponents within the computing device. The system 504 bus may be any ofseveral types of bus structures, such as PCI, AGP, VESA, Microchannel,ISA and EISA, etc. Typically, attached to the bus 504 are processors 506such as Intel, DEC Alpha, PowerPC, programmable gate arrays, etc., amemory 508 (e.g., RAM, ROM), storage devices 510, a video interface 512,and input/output interface ports 514.

The storage systems and associated computer-readable media providestorage of data and executable instructions for the computing device502. Storage options include hard-drives, floppy-disks, optical storage,magnetic cassettes, tapes, flash memory cards, memory sticks, digitalvideo disks, and the like, and may be connected to the bus 504 by way ofan interface 526.

Computing device 502 is expected to operate in a networked environmentusing logical connections to one or more remote computing devices 516,518 through a network interface 520, modem 522, or other communicationpathway. Computing devices may be interconnected by way of a network 524such as a local intranet or the Internet. Thus, for example, withrespect to the illustrated embodiments, assuming computing device 502 isa client seeking to purchase goods, then remote devices 516, 518 may bea billing service 516 providing substitute billing data to the user forpurchasing goods from a business 518.

It will be appreciated that remote computing devices 516, 518 may beconfigured like computing device 502, and therefore include many or allof the elements discussed for computing device 502. It should also beappreciated that computing devices 502, 516, 518 may be embodied withina single device, or separate communicatively-coupled components, andinclude routers, bridges, peer devices, web servers, and applicationprograms utilizing network application protocols such as HTTP, FileTransfer Protocol (FTP), Gopher, Wide Area Information Server (WAIS),and the like.

Having described and illustrated the principles of the invention withreference to illustrated embodiments, it will be recognized that theillustrated embodiments can be modified in arrangement and detailwithout departing from such principles.

And, even though the foregoing discussion has focused on particularembodiments, it is understood that other configurations arecontemplated. In particular, even though expressions such as “in oneembodiment,” “in another embodiment,” and the like are used herein,these phrases are meant to generally reference embodiment possibilities,and are not intended to limit the invention to particular embodimentconfigurations.

As used herein, these terms may reference the same or differentembodiments, and unless expressly indicated otherwise, are combinableinto other embodiments. Consequently, in view of the wide variety ofpermutations to the above-described embodiments, the detaileddescription is intended to be illustrative only, and should not be takenas limiting the scope of the invention. What is claimed as theinvention, therefore, is all such modifications as may come within thescope and spirit of the following claims and equivalents thereto.

1. A computing device implemented method comprising: operating with oneor more computing devices a billing service independent of one or morebilling data issuing sources; obtaining by the one or more computingdevices of the billing service a first and a second billing data fromsaid one or more billing data issuing sources, the first and secondbilling data being separate and distinct billing data; providing by theone or more computing devices of the billing service the first billingdata to a client, in response to a request received by the billingservice for the first billing data, for use by a user to conducttransactions with a first web site, said first billing data beingassociated with the first web site by said billing service or said firstbilling data having been associated with the first web site by the userand said billing service receiving notification of such association,said billing service receiving notification of usage of the firstbilling data after the first billing data has been used to conduct atransaction, said notification of usage of the first billing dataincluding identification of a first entity with which the first billingdata was used and facilitating verification by said billing service ofvalidity of the usage of the first billing data; determining by the oneor more computing devices of the billing service whether use of thefirst billing data is valid, including determining whether the firstbilling data was used with the first web site by comparing identity ofthe first entity against identity of the first web site; providing bythe one or more computing devices of the billing service the secondbilling data to the client, in response to a request received by thebilling service for the second billing data, for use by said user toconduct transactions with a second web site, said second billing databeing associated with the second web site by said billing service orsaid second billing data having been associated with the second web siteby the user and said billing service receiving notification of suchassociation, said billing service receiving notification of usage of thesecond billing data after the second billing data has been used toconduct a transaction, said notification of usage of the second billingdata including identification of a second entity with which the secondbilling data was used and facilitating verification by said billingservice of validity of the usage of the second billing data; anddetermining by the one or more computing devices of the billing servicewhether use of the second billing data is valid, including determiningwhether the second billing data was used with the second web site bycomparing identity of the second entity against identity of the secondweb site.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the billing serviceproviding the first billing data to the client comprises providing saidfirst billing data to the client in advance of the user registering withsaid first web site.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the billingservice providing the first billing data to the client comprisesproviding said first billing data to the client in real time while theuser is registering with said first web site.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the first billing data comprises a first credit card identifier,and the second billing data comprises a second credit card identifier,separate and distinct from said first credit card identifier.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising the billing service billing theuser according to a billing arrangement different from a billingarrangement corresponding to a payment format required by the first website.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the billing servicedetermining a billing format for the user, and converting, on behalf ofthe user, between a billing format corresponding to a payment formatrequired by the first web site and said determined billing format. 7.The method of claim 1, further comprising the billing service receivinga charge against said first billing data for a purchase of a product bythe user from the first web site using said first billing data, andbilling the user.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein the billing serviceobtaining comprises the billing service obtaining said first billingdata from a financial institution that is a billing data issuing source.9. The method of claim 1, wherein the billing service obtainingcomprises the billing service obtaining at least a selected one of saidfirst and second billing data in real time, just prior to providing theselected one of the first and second billing data to the client or thecorresponding one of the first and second web sites.
 10. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the billing service obtaining comprises the billingservice pre-obtaining said first billing data; and the billing serviceproviding said first billing data to either the client or the first website, in real time, during a first transaction with the first web site.11. The method of claim 10, wherein the billing service obtainingcomprises: the billing service obtaining a plurality of billing datafrom a bank that is a billing data issuing source; and the billingservice selecting said first and second billing data from said obtainedplurality of billing data.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein saidreceiving of notification of usage of said first billing data with saidfirst web site by the billing service occurs substantially withproviding of said first billing data to said first web site.
 13. Themethod of claim 1, wherein said receiving of notification of usage ofsaid first billing data with the first web site by the billing serviceoccurs after providing of said first billing data to said first website.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprising: the billing serviceorganizing said received notifications of usage of said first and secondbilling data, based at least in part on whether the usages are with thefirst and the second web sites, respectively.
 15. The method of claim14, further comprising: the billing service disputing all notificationsof usage of said first and second billing data not associated with thefirst and second web sites respectively.
 16. The method of claim 15,wherein the billing service performing said disputing comprises thebilling service performing said disputing in response to an instructionof the user.
 17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: the billingservice providing a user interface having a control for instructingdisputing of all usages of said first and second billing data notassociated with said first and second web sites respectively.
 18. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first web site is a selected one of acontent provider, a service provider, and an access provider.
 19. Themethod of claim 1, wherein said facilitating verification by saidbilling service of validity of the usage of the first billing datacomprises facilitating verification of validity of a charge resultingfrom said usage of the first billing data.
 20. The method of claim 1,wherein said facilitating verification by said billing service ofvalidity of the usage of the second billing data comprises facilitatingverification of validity of a charge resulting from said usage of thesecond billing data.
 21. The method of claim 1, wherein the billingservice providing the first billing data to the client to conducttransactions with the first web site comprises providing said firstbilling data to the client for exclusive use with said first web site.22. The method of claim 1, wherein the billing service providing thesecond billing data to the client to conduct transactions with thesecond web site comprises providing said second billing data to theclient for exclusive use with said second web site.
 23. An apparatuscomprising: a storage medium having stored therein a plurality ofprogramming instructions designed to enable the apparatus to operate orcontribute in operating a billing service when the programminginstructions are executed, the billing service being configured to,obtain a first and a second billing data from one or more billing dataissuing sources, and operate independent of said one or more billingdata issuing sources, the first and second billing data being separateand distinct data, provide the first billing data to a client, inresponse to a request received by the billing service for the firstbilling data, as substitute for personal billing data of a user, fortransactions conducted with a first web site, said first billing databeing associated with the first web site by said billing service or saidfirst billing data having been associated with the first web site by theuser and said billing service receiving notification of suchassociation, receive notification of usage of the first billing dataafter the first billing data has been used to conduct a transaction,said notification of usage of the first billing data includingidentification of a first entity with which the first billing data wasused and facilitating verification by said billing service of validityof the usage of the first billing data, determine whether use of thefirst billing data is valid, including to determine whether the firstbilling data was used with the first web site by comparing identity ofthe first entity against identity of the first web site, provide thesecond billing data to the client, in response to a request received bythe billing service for the second billing data, as substitute forpersonal billing data of the user, for transactions conducted with asecond web site, said second billing data being associated with thesecond web site by said billing service or said second billing datahaving been associated with the second web site by the user and saidbilling service receiving notification of such association, receivenotification of usage of the second billing data after the secondbilling data has been used to conduct a transaction, said notificationof usage of the second billing data including identification of a secondentity with which the second billing data was used and facilitatingverification by said billing service of validity of the usage of thesecond billing data, determine whether use of the second billing data isvalid, including to determine whether the second billing data was usedwith the second web site by comparing identity of the second entityagainst identity of the second web site, and a processor coupled to thestorage medium to execute the plurality of programming instructions. 24.The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the programming instructions, whenexecuted by said processor, enable the apparatus to: provide the firstbilling data to the client for registering with said first web site. 25.The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the programming instructions, whenexecuted by said processor, enable the apparatus to: provide the firstbilling data to said first web site during registration therewith. 26.The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the programming instructions, whenexecuted by said processor, enable the apparatus to: determine a privatebilling format for the user; and convert, on behalf of the user, betweena billing format corresponding to said first billing data and saiddetermined private billing format.
 27. The apparatus of claim 23,wherein the programming instructions, when executed by the processor,further enable the apparatus to: receive a third plurality of billingdata from the one or more billing data issuing sources; provide thefirst and second billing data, and the third plurality of billing datato an electronic device used by the user; facilitate the user inselecting to use said first billing data from said provided billing datafor exclusive use with said first web site; and facilitate the user inselecting to use said second billing data from said provided billingdata for exclusive use with said second web site.
 28. The apparatus ofclaim 23, further comprising: a network interface; wherein theprogramming instructions, when executed by the processor, furtherconfigure the network interface to connect to a network, to couple theapparatus to the one or more billing data issuing sources, and to anelectronic device used by the user.
 29. The apparatus of claim 23,wherein the programming instructions, when executed by the processor,enable the apparatus to provide in real time said first billing data toan electronic device used by the user, while the user is registeringwith said first web site.
 30. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein saidfacilitating verification by said billing service of validity of theusage of the first billing data comprises facilitating verification ofvalidity of a charge resulting from said usage of the first billingdata.
 31. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein said facilitatingverification by said billing service of validity of the usage of thesecond billing data comprises facilitating verification of validity of acharge resulting from said usage of the second billing data.
 32. Amachine-accessible medium having associated instructions that, whenaccessed, results in a machine: obtaining a first and a second billingdata from one or more billing data issuing sources, and operatingindependent of said one or more billing data issuing sources, the firstand second billing data being separate and distinct data; providing thefirst billing data to a client, in response to a request received by thebilling service for the first billing data, to substitute for personalbilling data of a user, for transactions conducted with a first website, said first billing data being associated with the first web siteby said billing service or said first billing data having beenassociated with the first web site by the user and said billing servicereceiving notification of such association; receiving notification ofusage of the first billing data after the first billing data has beenused to conduct a transaction, said notification of usage of the firstbilling data including identification of a first entity with which thefirst billing data was used and facilitating verification by saidbilling service of validity of the usage of the first billing data;determining whether use of the first billing data is valid, includingdetermining whether the first billing data was used with the first website by comparing identity of the first entity against identity of thefirst web site; providing the second billing data to the client, inresponse to a request received by the billing service for the secondbilling data, to substitute for personal billing data of the user, fortransactions conducted with a second web site, said second billing databeing associated with the second web site by said billing service orsaid second billing data having been associated with the second web siteby the user and said billing service receiving notification of suchassociation; receiving notification of usage of the second billing dataafter the second billing has been used to conduct a transaction, saidnotification of usage of the second billing data includingidentification of a second entity with which the second billing data wasused and facilitating verification by said billing service of validityof the usage of the second billing data; and determining whether use ofthe second billing data is valid, including determining whether thesecond billing data was used with the second web site by comparingidentity of the second entity against identity of the second web site.33. The medium of claim 32, wherein the associated instructions, whenaccessed, resulting in the billing service providing the first billingdata to the client comprises the associated instructions, when accessed,resulting in the billing service providing said first billing data tothe client in advance of the user registering with said first web site.34. The medium of claim 32, wherein the associated instructions, whenaccessed, resulting in the billing service providing the first billingdata to the client comprises the associated instructions, when accessed,resulting in the billing service providing said first billing data tothe client in real time while the user is registering with said firstweb site.
 35. The medium of claim 32, wherein the associatedinstructions, when accessed, resulting in facilitating verification bysaid billing service of validity of the usage of the first billing datacomprises the associated instructions, when accessed, resulting infacilitating verification of validity of a charge resulting from saidusage of the first billing data.
 36. The medium of claim 32, wherein theassociated instructions, when accessed, resulting in facilitatingverification by said billing service of validity of the usage of thesecond billing data comprises the associated instructions, whenaccessed, resulting in facilitating verification of validity of a chargeresulting from said usage of the second billing data.
 37. A devicecomprising: means for obtaining a first and a second billing data fromone or more billing data issuing sources, the first and second billingdata being separate and distinct billing data; means for providing thefirst billing data to a client, in response to a request received by abilling service for the first billing data, for use by a user to conducttransactions with a first web site, said first billing data beingassociated with the first web site by said billing service or said firstbilling data having been associated with the first web site by the userand said billing service receiving notification of such association,said billing service receiving notification of usage of the firstbilling data after the first billing data has been used to conduct atransaction, said notification of usage of the first billing dataincluding identification of a first entity with which the first billingdata was used and facilitating verification by said billing service ofvalidity of the usage of the first billing data; means for determiningwhether use of the first billing data is valid, including determiningwhether the first billing data was used with the first web site bycomparing identity of the first entity against identity of the first website; means for providing the second billing data to said client, inresponse to a request received by the billing service for the secondbilling data, for use by said user to conduct transactions with a secondweb site, said second billing data being associated with the second website by said billing service or said second billing data having beenassociated with the second web site by the user and said billing servicereceiving notification of such association, said billing servicereceiving notification of usage of the second billing data after thesecond billing data has been used to conduct a transaction, saidnotification of usage of the second billing data includingidentification of a second entity with which the second billing data wasused and facilitating verification by said billing service of validityof the usage of the second billing data; and means for determiningwhether use of the second billing data is valid, including determiningwhether the second billing data was used with the second web site bycomparing identity of the second entity against identity of the secondweb site.
 38. A computing device implemented method comprising:operating with one or more computing devices a billing serviceindependent of one or more billing data issuing sources; obtaining bythe one or more computing devices of the billing service at least afirst billing data from said one or more billing data issuing sources;providing by the one or more computing devices of the billing servicethe first billing data to a client, in response to a request received bythe billing service for the first billing data, for use by said user toconduct transactions with a first web site, said first billing dataassociated with the first web site by said billing service or said firstbilling data associated with the first web site by the user and saidbilling service receiving notification of such association, said billingservice receiving notification of usage of the first billing data afterthe first billing data has been used to conduct a transaction, saidnotification of usage of the first billing data including identificationof a first entity with which the first billing data was used andfacilitating verification by said billing service of validity of theusage of the first billing data; and determining by the one or morecomputing devices of the billing service whether use of the firstbilling data is valid, including determining whether the first billingdata was used with the first web site by comparing identity of the firstentity against identity of the first web site.
 39. The method of claim38, further comprising obtaining a second billing data; providing thesecond billing data to the client for use by said user to conducttransactions with a second web site, said second billing data associatedwith the second web site by said billing service or said second billingdata associated with the second web site by the user and said billingservice receiving notification of such association, said billing servicereceiving notification of usage of the second billing data after thesecond billing data has been used to conduct a transaction, saidnotification of usage of the second billing data includingidentification of a second entity with which the second billing data wasused and facilitating verification by said billing service of validityof the usage of the second billing data; and determining whether use ofthe second billing data is valid, including determining whether thesecond billing data was used with the second web site by comparingidentity of the second entity against identity of the second web site.40. A method comprising: requesting a billing service for billing data,the billing service operating independent of a billing data issuingsource from which the billing data has been issued, and the billingservice having received the billing data from the billing data issuingsource; receiving the billing data from the billing service to conducttransactions with a web site, the billing data associated with the website by the billing service, or associating the billing data with theweb site and notifying the billing service of such association, andusing the billing data to conduct a transaction with the web sitecausing notification of usage to be transmitted to the billing serviceincluding identification of an entity with which the first billing datawas used and to facilitate verification of usage of the billing data,including a determination whether the first billing data was used withthe first web site by comparing identity of the entity against identityof the first web site.
 41. The method of claim 40, wherein requesting abilling service for billing data comprises requesting a billing servicefor billing data prior to registering with the first web site.
 42. Themethod of claim 40, wherein requesting a billing service for billingdata comprises requesting a billing service for billing data in realtime while registering with said first web site.
 43. A computing deviceimplemented method of a billing service, the method comprising:receiving by one or more computing devices a request for billing data;receiving by the one or more computing devices, before or after therequest, the billing data from a billing data issuing source, the one ormore computing devices associated with a billing service operatingindependent of the billing data issuing source; providing by the one ormore computing devices the billing data in response to the request, thebilling data associated with a web site by the billing service or thebilling data associated with the web site by a user and the billingservice receiving notification of such association, the billing servicereceiving notification of usage of the billing data after the billingdata has been used to conduct a transaction, the notification of usageof the billing data including identification of an entity with which thebilling data was used and facilitating verification by the billingservice of validity of the usage of the billing data; and determining bythe one or more computing devices whether use of the billing data isvalid, including determining whether the billing data was used with theweb site by comparing identity of the entity against identity of the website.
 44. The method of claim 43, further comprising receiving anadditional request for additional billing data; receiving by the one ormore computing devices, before or after the additional request, theadditional billing data from a billing data issuing source, the one ormore computing devices associated with the billing service operatingindependent of the billing data issuing source; providing by the one ormore computing devices the additional billing data in response to theadditional request, the additional billing data associated with anadditional web site by the billing service or the additional billingdata associated with the additional web site by a user and the billingservice receiving notification of such association, the billing servicereceiving notification of usage of the additional billing data after theadditional billing data has been used to conduct a transaction, thenotification of usage of the additional billing data includingidentification of another entity with which the additional billing datawas used and facilitating verification by the billing service ofvalidity of the usage of the additional billing data; and determining bythe one or more computing devices whether use of the additional billingdata is valid, including determining whether the additional billing datawas used with the additional web site by comparing identity of theanother entity against identity of the additional web site.